It was with weary pawsteps that Gwenevere passed into her homeland. The lands were unclaimed, a faint relief to the woman. Sad, too, to see the evidence of Serecia's demise. She had hardly expected the pack that had taken over Serecia to have survived for almost six years, but still, there was that little rush of mixed feelings.

There were signs that the area was inhabited by more than one set of loners - it seemed someone had decided to pen some elk into an enclosure of some sort, but whoever it was didn't seem to be around at the moment, so despite the faint scents that crisscrossed the area it seemed empty. Lonely.

Against the snow's whiteness her markings burned like fire, the only color to be seen for some distance in the winter-blanketed old farmland. Crystalline blue eyes squinted against the wind-driven ice.

Sighing, she crossed into the cavernous barn and stretched out in the sheltered interior. The cold was less biting without the bitter wind over the range seeping into her downy fur. Maybe she should have waited out the winter somewhere instead of traveling, but she had been determined to wait no longer once she'd made the decision to return home. It didn't matter; she would put the weight back on, and sore muscles and pawpads would heal. What mattered was that she was home, and after some rest she would set about tracking down what was left of her family, where ever they were.

Roza was regretting going so far from home now that the wind had picked up. Abbey was nestled down between her shoulderblades to keep from being blown off of Roza's back. She squinted through the dusting of snow that was blowing around her. This wasn't the farthest she had traveled on her adventures and explorations, but It was certainly one of the coldest adventures she had been on so far. Winter, she decided, was not a great time for traveling. She spotted a structure up ahead and hurried toward it so maybe she could at least wait out his wind storm. As soon as she hopped inside though she realized that someone else had beaten her to it. She shook her head to get rid of the show flakes that were stuck to her face and when she looked up she saw a stranger standing in front of her further inside the building. Normally Roza probably would have ducked back outside to avoid annoying the stranger or accidently walking into someone's home, but she happened to catch the other woman's scent first and realized that it reminded her faintly of her father's and grandmother's. She blinked and looked up at the woman again, noticing that her fur was ivory and russet much like most of her family's. That made her curious enough to walk further into the barn after her, saying, "Hello, there! I hope you don't mind if I join you." "Roza" "Abbey" Think

Gwen looked up as another wolf's scent struck her, only to see a young girl taking shelter much as she was. The girl was spotted similarly to Gwen's father and siblings, and Gwen smiled to see her. They were hardly the only family to have such markings, but it made her happy to think that this youth could possibly be in some descended from the Mathias-Adravendis. A bittersweet happiness, knowing that she wouldn't give her parents grandchildren herself. Bittersweet, not even knowing if they were still alive, or if she would ever find them. "Hello yourself! I don't mind at all. In fact, I insist you stay. It is much too unpleasant out to wish that sort of weather on anyone. You haven't been travelling far in this, have you?" she added with a touch of concern for the kid. Old enough to be out on her own, but still...

Roza was glad to see that the woman was friendly and didn't seem to mind her intrusion. Roza's tail wagged gently behind her as she walked further into the building, stopping when she was a couple of feet away from her new acquaintance. She gave a little shake of her head to the woman's question, saying, "No, I was pretty close to here when the storm picked up." Abbey poked her head up then, peeking out over the top of Roza's head so she could eye the wolf across from them. Roza ignored the tan cardinal as her bird companion climbed up the back of her neck to get a better view. "I'm just glad I found this place! I really didn't want to try and make it back home in this weather." Roza settled back on her haunches with a warm smile still lingering on her muzzle. She was pretty friendly and inviting anyway, but there was something about this woman that felt familiar so she felt even less reason to treat her like a stranger. "I'm Roza by the way! It's nice to meet you!" She felt a light peck on the top of her head and she chuckled softly, adding, "And this is Abbey. She says it's rude when I don't introduce her too." The cardinal fluffed out her feathers against the cold with a small shake, storing away that comment for a future lecture. "A pleasure I'm sure." "Roza" "Abbey" Think